Area Roundup: West Valley cross-country duo fights to the finish

It was a photo finish Saturday at the CIF state cross-country championships in Fresno where West Valley's Jenna Storms finished in 18th place to barely edge out teammate Hannah Dorman, who captured 19th place, out of 194 runners in the Division IV girls race.

Storms, a freshman, and Dorman, a junior, both had times of 18 minutes, 57 seconds.

"It was a great race for them," West Valley High School cross-country coach Scott Fairley said.

The West Valley girls placed 19th out of 24 teams. The Yreka girls team was 23rd, led by Dakota Cash in 73rd (20:09). Central Valley freshman Abby Murch was 82nd (20:20).

In Division IV, the Yreka boys team won the state title, led by eighth-place finisher Eric Neill (15:51) and in 21st place, teammate Tim Williams (16:10). West Valley's Ryan Stockton came in 104th at 17:21 in the boys race. Central Valley's Austin Murch (16:56) was 68th.

Etna junior John Whelan (15:53) came in seventh in the Division V boys race. Top-ranked runner Billy Gaudreau of St. Margaret's of San Juan Capistrano finished first (15:28) out of the 182 competitors.

Also in Division V, Jeff Krantz (16:58) of Redding Christian was 36th. Mason Jacobs-Dion (18:46) of U-Prep was 131st. The Mount Shasta boys team came in 20th place.

U-Prep finished in 15th place as a team in Division V girls. Individuals in the race were American Christian's Stephanie Rasmussen (19:46) in 26th place. Etna's Becky Travis (21:38) came in 97th.